Roast broccoli rubbed with seasoning and served with a cider vinegar dip is quite tasty. Next time I may use bahārāt, which I already know goes well with roast carrots. I left out the cheese in the original recipe – it really doesn’t need it – and made a few alterations to the spice mix: I used maple sugar instead of brown sugar, I left out the chilli powder, I added 1 teaspoon of sumac, and I added 1/2 a teaspoon each of ground Szechuan pepper and annatto seeds. I cooked it for less time than the recipe called for (25 minutes total) as I did not want it slightly charred.

I ate this for lunch with a little bread, but it would also be good as a vegetable side dish for dinner or as a dinner centrepiece if accompanied by some potatoes or other side dishes.

Trying to eat local seasonal food means a lot of the vegetables that don’t inspire affection. This week I made root vegetable soup with tarragon cream and turnip chips, which was worth making. I used a lighter cooking cream which I didn’t beat, and next time I’ll probably leave it out to make this vegan. I used half a turnip for the chips, which were surprisingly good. For the soup itself I used half a turnip, 2 carrots, 1 rutabaga, 1 sweet potato, 1 potato, and 1 celeriac. Next time I think I may toss in some parsnip or beet.

I served it with a bit of bread and a side of mixed vegetables (zucchini/courgette, carrot and bell pepper).

I got this recipe from my mother, who got it from a friend. I modified it a little. I have no idea where it originated.

Ingredients

half a small squash or pumpkin (I used a Hokkaido pumpkin so I wouldn’t have to peel it)

2 sweet potatoes or yams

250 g Brussels sprouts

2 beets

1 head of garlic

2 springs fresh rosemary

olive oil

salt

pepper

crema di balsamico

Process

Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C.

Cut the top off the head of garlic. Put it in a bit of aluminium foil and drizzle it with olive oil. Close the foil and set the garlic in a baking dish.

Peel the beets and sweet potatoes and chop them. Put them in the baking dish. Cut the pumpkin and remove the seeds; chop it and add it to the baking dish as well. Cut small Brussels sprouts in half and large ones in quarters and add them to the baking dish as well. Toss in the rosemary and drizzle the vegetables with olive oil.

The vegetables before roasting

Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove the garlic and sprigs of rosemary. Discard the rosemary. Squeeze the garlic toes out into a bowl. Mash them with a bit of olive oil. Mix the garlic mash in with the other vegetables and add salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, drizzle with a bit of crema di balsamico.

I brought meze to a friend’s house for dinner. It included yogurtlu havuc salatasi (carrots in yoghurt), hummus, baba ghanoush and borani esfanaaj (spinach in yoghurt), served with fresh homemade pita.